merci, i ni ce, thank you

i think its time for a general thank you.
you all have been more than accommodating and helpful and fulfilling. i've received 6loofas, multitudes of chap sticks, toiletries, yoga pants, pictures, magazine clippings, a recorder,tuna pouches, books and other goodies. thank you all so much. its not only a relief to be clean,
soothed, well read and with taut facial skin (hopefully for a long time), but also to know that people are reading
this thing. thats comforting and amazing. thank you. thank you. thank you.

due to the recent and abrupt change in weather, here is a new list of goodies i would cherish here south of the
Sahel:
`self adhesive envelopes
`drink mixes (ocean spray, propel, etc)
`candies, along the lines of chews (starbursts, mambas, etc)
`fashion magazines or even just clippings (an amazing realization that i've had and that Ryan will be very pleased with
is that gossip magazines are sadly scavenged upon arrival but so often we see the same pictures, the same people, the
same idiots with money and first, can't figure out what the date of the magazine was published and then and get sad -
sad for American pop culture, sad for the energy lost and the inevitable disappointment
thats felt upon finishing them, mostly though, we're sad for the beautifully designed clothes whose beauty is lost upon
some of those aforementioned idiots); please do remember the grave difference between say W and OK! or Elle and People.
the former are examples of true fashion magazines and the latter are the gossip columns that are seeming to fail me
recently.
`granola bars (if you haven't tried a Trio bar yet - YOU MUST)
`and the most difficult thing to encourage but the most priceless of all of the things sent - letters; handwritten, typed,
chicken scratched, i don't care. a letter received in this country is more nourishing than any vitamin supplement or
water enhancement methode, although those will suffice.
`dried fruit - always a hit.
`good pens for better letters
...........................................
two sad notes that i'm throwing in at the end here because they are both tragic in their own ways and i'm still without all the facts and without the words to speak of them just yet.
Dabi, my lovely little man in village (see below), is in a Malaria induced coma in village right now. his mother is too poor to pay for medical care so i footed the bill (a whopping $2) and ensured her that the doctor in the neighboring village could in fact help Dabi recover. i have been out of village for 3 days now and the health volunteer in said village has reported no sign of his arrival yet. this, to me, means that he may have passed away which is right now just too much to handle. it could, also, mean that he recovered on his own but the chances of that are slim and i'm realistic.
over the past 5 months in Mourgoula i've taken over 700 photos, 10 videos and made lots of promises to friends and family, both here and at home, about the delivery of said pictures. alas, upon arrival in the united states, the camera card was empty.

like i said these are two touchy (and very different) topics that i'm currently having some serious trouble dealing with. when there is a change in either situation, i'll let you all know.